The Berlin Grand Prix was once again one of the largest and most organized tournaments in the world. Being tagged as the Wimbledon of Table Football for being the only large tournament in the world not to use Astropitches but instead Cotton Pitches, it has yet again attracted well over 100 players from 9 Nations and has again attracted some of the World’s top players like Eric Verhagen, Massimo Cremona and Efrem Intra.
This year there was a large field of top-class players, and once again in the Open Category, the Germans failed to do much in their home country, the best results coming from Berlin’s Micheal Stolzenberg who reached the meager Last 32 stage.
The surprise of the tournament was former Junior World Champion, Daniele Bertelli, who reached the Final of the open after eliminating Malta’s very own Massimo Cremona in the Semis on shots and Dutchman Martin Bom in the Quarters. Only to lose to Eric Verhagen in the Final.
The tournament is characterised for its tendancy to finish late due to the fact that a player is allowed to participate in as many categories as he likes. As a result there were many players who were participating in 3 or more categories.
In the U19 category, homeplayer Bjorn Kegenbein, who is becoming somewhat of a prodigy while still being in the U15 category, managed to defeat World Number One, Christian Haas in the U19 final. In the Semi-finals, Kegenbein eliminated Daniel Kosa, another strong Berlin Junior, whilst Haas overcame Kamen’s Dominik Schulz on shots after a thrilling 3-3 encounter.
Kegenbein made it a double when he beat Christian Haas’ younger brother, Alexander, to obtain the U15 title, in the semi-finals, Kegenbein beat fellow Berliner, Marcel Kwiatkowski while Haas beat England’s Samuel Curtis.
In the Veterans, Martin Bom emerged victorious over Ron Corsten, in an all-Dutch final. Bom beat another dutchman, Richard Stolwijk, in the Semi-Finals, while Corsten beat Austria’s Gunther Bamberzky.
Milano’s Laura Panza took home the silverware in the ladies, when she beat home-player Johanna Zeisberg in the final. In the semi-finals she beat another Berlin player, Anna-Lisa Menzel on shots, while Zeisberg beat her team-mate Dania Schiller to qualify for the final.
Berlin youngster, Marcel Kwiatkowski made up for his Semi-Final defeat in the U15 after he won the U12 title where he trounced all opposition and put four past Kamen’s Victoria Busing in the final. The 3rd and 4th placed players in the U12 competition were Lisa Zejunc and Rene Frey, who are also Kamen players.
In the teams competition, Delft failed to make it three years in a row when they lost the final to the fairly-stronger Stella Artois team of Milan, a team which includes current world champion, Efrem Intra. Delft beat the Vikings of Denmark in the Semi-Finals while Stella Artois eliminated DEVILS Austria.
Full Results : http://www.sfu.ca/~wha7/subbuteo/results/files/200607/GPBerlin.pdf
